Time goes back to not long ago——
The meeting place that Takigawa, Uesaka and other friends agreed to meet was the main gate of Yoshiwara.
When Takigawa and Uesaka both arrived at the gate of Yoshiwara, the rest of their friends were already there.
After the eight people including Takigawa arrived, Uesaka walked in front to lead the way, leading everyone to the Bayberry House where Uesaka had already booked a room.
Under Uesaka's deliberate arrangement, those who attended tonight's banquet, which had the sole purpose of helping Takigawa Zhen, were all Takigawa's good friends.
Everyone chatted as they walked towards the Yangmei House.
Listening to the laughter of his friends around him, Takigawa felt that the haze that had lingered in his heart since last night had dissipated a little.
"Look! That's the Yangmei House!" Uesaka, who was walking in front, suddenly pointed forward.
"Wow! What a magnificent teahouse!" said one of Takigawa's friends who was walking to the right behind Uesaka. "I didn't know there was such a magnificent teahouse in Yoshiwara!"
Among those present, several did not come to Yoshiwara often, so they had no idea about the details of Yoshiwara.
"The reason why Yoshiwara is called 'Edo's City That Never Sleeps' is not just because there are 3,000 prostitutes in it." Uesaka responded in a half-joking tone and slightly quickened his pace.
However, at this moment.
Suddenly, a discordant voice sounded from behind Takigawa and others.
"Hmm? Isn't this Takigawa Heiichiro from the Takigawa family?"
As soon as this discordant voice sounded from behind him, the expression on Takigawa's face froze. Then he stopped, frowned slightly, and turned his head to look behind him.
As for Uesaka and the others, they also stopped.
Behind Takigawa and others, three brightly dressed samurai walked slowly towards Takigawa.
The leader of these three well-dressed warriors was very young, with a neat shaved head. Although his facial features were ordinary, his eyes were very sharp.
This person, like Takigawa, is also a hatamoto samurai.
However, his family's status is much higher than Takigawa's.
He is Kyoichiro Miyashita, the eldest son of the Miyashita family, who has an annual salary of 7,000 koku.
In addition to the astonishing family salary, the identities of Miyashita's relatives are equally astonishing.
Miyashita's grandfather is the current lord of the Aizu Domain.
Miyashita's elders also held important positions in the shogunate.
It's a pity that although Miyashita's family is powerful and he has a lot of relatives with prominent status, Miyashita himself is a useless person.
He is uneducated and has a fondness for romantic places like Yoshiwara.
Looking at Miyashita who was walking slowly towards him, Takigawa's brows furrowed more and more.
He and Miyashita have a very bad relationship.
Miyashita, who is uneducated and unskilled, is the type of person that Takigawa despises the most.
Miyashita also disliked Takigawa, who was both literary and martial.
The two of them once studied Mugai-ryu swordsmanship in the same dojo. It was at that time that they got to know each other, and it was also at that time that they became people that disliked each other.
"I never thought I'd see a busy man like you, Takigawa, in a place like Yoshiwara." Miyashita said in a sarcastic tone, "Aren't you going to study or practice swords tonight?"
"What I'm going to do is none of your business?" Takigawa said coldly.
"It's really none of my business."
Miyashita shrugged and continued in a sarcastic tone.
"I just care about you."
"After all, you can't even get into the top 10 of the 'Imperial Examination', so I'm worried that you might have neglected your studies."
"Takigawa-kun, don't be so obsessed with having fun that you neglect your studies of military strategy."
As soon as Miyashita finished speaking, Takigawa and the people around him like Uesaka all changed their expressions suddenly.
Takigawa clenched his naturally hanging hands and said, "Humph! So what if I can't get into the top 10 of the 'Gozen Test'? If it were you who took part in the 'Gozen Test', I'm afraid you wouldn't even pass the test!"
In response to Takigawa's counterattack, Miyashita just shrugged his shoulders and looked "indifferent":
"I admit it. If I were to participate in the Imperial Examination, I would not even pass the written test."
"But is there any necessary connection between whether I can pass the essay test and whether you, Takigawa, can enter the top 10 in the essay test?"
"Whether I can pass the exam or not, it's a fact that you, Takigawa, can't even make it into the top 10."
"I have heard that before the results of the written test were announced, you were full of confidence and felt that you would definitely get the first place in the written test, or at least be in the top 10."
The mockery on Miyashita's face became more and more intense.
"I've always been curious, Takigawa-kun. You were so confident, but you found out last night that you didn't even make it into the top 10 in the essay test. How did you feel?"
Takigawa's face turned from white to purple, and then from purple to black.
Seeing Takigawa's suddenly changed expression, Miyashita chuckled a few times as if he had seen some wonderful show, then led the two followers behind him and headed towards the depths of Yoshiwara.
Looking at Miyashita's receding back, the first thought that came to Takigawa's mind was: draw his sword and kill this bastard who insulted him.
And Takigawa's hands really began to act according to his thoughts - he raised his left hand to hold the scabbard of the katana, and raised his right hand to hold the hilt of the katana.
But as soon as the thought of "killing Miyashita" emerged in Takigawa's mind, it was shattered by Takigawa's reason.
As this thought faded away, a hint of fear flashed across Takigawa's eyes.
Although Takigawa was so angry that he felt the blood was about to rush out of his head, he did not lose his rationality.
Takigawa knew very well what the consequences would be if he killed the eldest son of the Miyashita family, who was also a hatamoto.
The shogunate will not forgive this kind of behavior of hatamoto drawing swords against each other, and their Takigawa family will be stripped of their status as hatamoto - and this is still the lightest punishment.
Maybe they would even ask Takigawa to commit seppuku to apologize.
Takigawa still had a bit of rationality left, so he resisted the urge to draw his sword and prepared to go forward and have another good argument with Miyashita.
But at this time, Uesaka reached out and pressed Takigawa's shoulder.
"Takigawa, ignore him." Uesaka, who saw what Takigawa was going to do, said in a deep voice, "Miyashita is a scoundrel. Even if you go to quarrel with him, he will just throw a tantrum."
At this time, Takigawa's other friends also came forward to comfort and persuade Takigawa.
Listening to the comfort and advice from his friends, Takigawa took a deep breath.
"...Let's go," Takigawa said in a deep voice, "Let's go into the Bayberry House and have a drink."
Seeing that Takigawa gave up on arguing with Miyashita, Uesaka showed joy and nodded vigorously.
The group quickened their pace and entered the Yangmei House, and then, under the guidance of the Yangmei House's attendant, entered the room that Uesaka had booked.
From entering the Bayberry House to taking their seats in the rooms that had been booked in advance, Uesaka kept a close eye on Takigawa's expression the entire time.
Takigawa's face... to give you a more vivid example, it's like he's eaten shit. His originally fair face has become as black as coal.
After entering the room and taking a seat, he kept drinking the sake that had just been served.
Looking at the extremely ugly face of Takigawa who was sitting next to him, Uesaka sighed silently in his heart, and then said loudly to the other friends sitting around:
"Everyone, why don't we invite some kabuki actors to come and liven up the party!"
As soon as Uesaka made this suggestion, he received an immediate response from the people around him.
"Ohhh!! I agree!"
"That's a good idea! If we don't invite Kabuki actors to sing and dance at the banquet, it will always feel like something is missing."
"I wonder if there are any free Kabuki performances right now..."
…
Except for Takigawa, everyone else has spoken up and expressed their opinions, all of whom agreed.
"Takigawa," Uesaka asked, "what do you think?"
"Whatever." Takigawa said this word coldly with a gloomy face, and continued to drink by himself.
…
…
"Mr. Uesaka." Lai Jiu forced a flattering smile at Uesaka in front of him, "Thank you very much for visiting our store tonight!"
After saying that, Lai Jiu bowed deeply towards Uesaka in front of him.
"Raijiu, please arrange some Kabuki for us." Uesaka nodded to show that he received Raijiu's gift, and then stated his purpose directly.
The reason why Shangban chose to hold the banquet at Yangmei House tonight was because he knew Lai Jiu from Yangmei House. With an acquaintance, he could save a lot of troublesome procedures when holding a banquet, and he could also show his support to his friends.
Lai Jiu's position in Yangmei House is probably similar to that of a manager, and he is a member of the management level.
After leaving the room, Uesaka went straight to Raijuu and asked him to help arrange the kabuki.
"This..." Lai Jiu looked embarrassed, "We have a lot of guests in Yangmei House tonight, so... I don't know if there are any kabuki actors who are still available."
Hearing what Lai Jiu said, Uesaka's brows immediately furrowed.
The reason why Uesaka suddenly decided to invite Kabuki to perform the entertainment was purely to make Takigawa, who had just been mercilessly mocked by Miyashita, happier and more cheerful.
Watching singing and dancing is one of Takigawa's hobbies, so Uesaka wanted to cater to his tastes.
"Raijiu, can't you think of a solution ?" There was a hint of seriousness and displeasure in Uesaka's tone when he said this.
"Well..." Lai Jiu smiled bitterly and nodded, "Master Uesaka, I understand. I will do my best to arrange it for you."
"Yeah. As soon as possible."
After saying that, Uesaka left Raijiu's sight without looking back and returned to the room.
After Uesaka left, Lai Jiu breathed a sigh of relief.
…
…
After Uesaka left, Raiku hurriedly summoned his subordinates and asked them to quickly arrange for the kabuki to come.
In Yoshiwara, there are not only prostitutes, but also Kabuki actors who sell their art but not their bodies.
Some wealthy teahouses and yujo houses even employed a group of skilled Kabuki artists, such as Yangmeiya.
Yangmei House employs nearly 60 Kabuki artists.
The subordinates sent by Raiku to arrange the kabuki came back soon.
But the news he brought back made Lai Jiu's face fall.
"What? Most of the kabuki actors have been invited?"
"Yes, yes." Lai Jiu's subordinates nodded quickly, "There are too many guests tonight. Most of our kabuki actors have been invited. Only these people are left..."
One by one, Raijiu's subordinates reported the names of the kabuki actors who were still available.
After listening to his subordinates report the names of the kabuki actors who were still available, Raiku shouted in a bad mood:
"Aren't there still many people who have time?"
"But, but...these kabuki actors who are still available are basically newcomers...and they don't have any performance experience."
Lai Jiu knew all the names that his subordinates had just reported.
Most of them are young people hired by Yangmei House recently.
In terms of strength, they still have some strength.
But they are still too young, and have not performed in front of others very often. They are basically a group of people with talent but little performance experience.
"So what if they're new?" Lai Jiu said seriously, "In every walk of life, who doesn't start out as a newcomer? After a few performances, won't the newcomers become veterans? Just because they're newcomers, can we never let them perform? Stop talking nonsense, and go arrange for them to go to Lord Uesaka's room."
…
…
When the food and a new batch of drinks were served, the kabuki actors were also on the spot.
There were 8 people in total, 3 men and 5 women - 3 men and 2 women were responsible for playing instruments, and the other 3 women were responsible for dancing.
The food, drinks, and kabuki were all present, and the banquet naturally began in earnest.
Amid the singing and dancing of the kabuki actors, this medium-sized room gradually became lively.
The food and drinks were delicious.
The musicians played very hard.
The maikos also danced very hard.
However——there was one person who never even raised his head to watch the Kabuki performance.
Since entering the room, Takigawa had a gloomy face, lowered his head, and drank silently.
Even though there was a song and dance performance going on in front of him, which he usually loved, he had no interest in looking up.
The scene of Miyashita mocking him just now kept flashing in Takigawa's mind.
When he thought of Miyashita's ridicule just now, his hand that was holding the wine glass tightened unconsciously.
Even though he had drunk a lot of alcohol, until his face turned red and his head felt dizzy, Takigawa did not feel the anger in his heart lessened in the slightest.
While feeling angry, Takigawa also felt...very wronged.
He didn't understand why he wasn't even in the top 10 in the written test.
No matter which question it was, he should have answered it flawlessly. Why was it that the first place in the literary test was won by that Majima Goro instead of him?
Resentment and grievance dominated Takigawa's brain, making his head and chest swell and ache. Placing his fingers on his temples, he could clearly feel the blood vessels beating. Only by continuously pouring alcohol into his mouth could he feel a little better.
…
…
The banquet passed silently for more than a quarter of an hour (a quarter of an hour was equal to half an hour in ancient Japan).
Everyone except Takigawa enjoyed the song and dance performance for such a long time.
After performing for such a long time, the Kabuki actors - especially the three young girls who were in charge of dancing and were probably only about fifteen years old - all showed obvious signs of fatigue.
Takigawa and his friends were seated in a typical row - divided into two rows on the left and right, with the two rows of people sitting on the ground facing each other.
The three geishas danced in the middle area between the two rows of seats.
However, at this moment.
An unexpected event occurred.
One of the three geishas was dancing slowly with a fan in one hand and her body lowered. Perhaps because she had been dancing for too long and her body was tired, or perhaps she simply made a mistake, the movement of the fan and her sleeves was a little too big.
The sleeves of the clothes they use for dancing are longer.
The long sleeve accidentally swept the wine bottle placed on Takigawa's desk.
The wine bottle fell over, and the remaining wine in the bottle flowed out and fell onto the tatami on the right side of the table.
The flowing wine also spilled onto the handle of Takigawa's sword that was placed on the tatami on the right side.
The geisha was horrified by her mistake.
Takigawa's expression changed rapidly in a very short period of time.
The originally extremely gloomy face was stunned for a moment.
Then use black to change to black and red.
Before the geisha who made the mistake could apologize, Takigawa started to roar:
“You bastard!!”
Takigawa's roar was so loud that it felt like the whole room was shaking slightly because of it.
Takigawa's emotions tonight were like a powder keg that could ignite at any time.
The mistake made by the geisha successfully ignited this powder keg.
Takigawa grabbed the katana beside him and drew it out of its sheath.
Looking at Takigawa drawing his sword, the geisha who made the mistake was so scared that she collapsed to the ground. The other kabuki were also frightened by the sudden change and didn't know what to do.
"Takigawa! Wait!" Uesaka quickly stood up and stopped Takigawa.
Uesaka and others were also frightened.
The rest of the people, including Uesaka, stood up and stopped Takigawa.
Because they were too anxious, some people accidentally knocked over the table full of delicious food under their feet.
The terrified Kabuki actors, the knocked-over tables, the food and drinks spilled everywhere... the originally clean and lively room suddenly became a mess.
Takigawa's loud shout just now successfully attracted almost all the employees of Yangmei House.
The door of the room was quickly opened, and the employees of Yangmei House holding various weapons and the club staff who were sent to support tonight all rushed over.
Among those who came upon hearing the noise, Takigawa saw one of the culprits who had made him feel resentful since last night.
“Mashima Goro…?!” Takigawa frowned and gritted his teeth.
…
…
Shirobei now felt cold sweat constantly coming out of his forehead.
He once had the good fortune to meet an old Chinese man, but that was a long time ago.
Looking at Matsudaira Sadanobu who suddenly came to Yoshiwara, Shirobei felt very uneasy. He didn't know why Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was usually busy with all kinds of affairs, would appear in this small Yoshiwara.
After Matsudaira Sadanobu took off the conical hat on his head, his nickname, Tachibana, who was sitting behind Matsudaira Sadanobu, also took off the conical hat on his head.
"I can't even remember the last time I was in Yoshiwara."
Matsudaira Sadanobu put the bamboo hat in his hand on the tatami beside him and spoke to Shirobei in a casual tone, as if he was chatting with someone.
"Yoshiwara is still the same. At night, the lights are so bright that they light up the entire sky."
"… Lord Rochu." Shirobei leaned forward, his hands on the ground, swallowed his saliva, and took the courage to ask, "I wonder what exactly brings you here?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu had just said that he came to Yoshiwara for something more relaxing.
His words made Shirobei even more confused, and he didn't know what "easier things" were.
"I came to Yoshiwara mainly to look for someone in your club." A faint smile appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face. "Shirobei, can you help arrange for him to meet me now?"
"And help me get a room in Shirobei Club where I won't be disturbed."
"Looking for someone?" Shirobei was stunned. "Master Laochu, who are you looking for?"
"Mashima Goro." Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't say any nonsense and spit out a name concisely.
"Mashima Goro?" Shirobei's face was full of surprise. "Master, I wonder if you are looking for Mashima Goro..."
Before Shirobei could finish his words, Matsudaira Sadanobu interrupted him and said:
"Shirobei, don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask."
"I'm so sorry!" Shirobei realized that he had been meddling and put his forehead on the tatami. "It's my fault!"
"Master Rochu, Majima Goro-kun is not in the clubhouse right now."
"The teahouse called Yangmei House has many guests tonight and is a little short-staffed, so we are asking for help from our club."
"So I just sent a group of club members including Majima Goro to support Yangmeiya!"
Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned slightly:
"Yangmei House...how long will it take for him to come back?"
"At the earliest, it will take an hour, and I can come back when there are fewer guests in Yangmei House..."
"One hour... I don't want to wait for an hour like this. Shirobei, can you help me call Majima Goro back from that Yangmei House?"
"No problem!" Regarding such a small matter, Shirobei nodded hurriedly, "I'll send someone to call Majima Goro back now!"
After nodding his head in agreement, Shirobei was about to stand up and go down to tell his subordinates to "call back Majima Goro" when -
"Lord Shirobei! Something bad has happened! Something bad has happened!"
Suddenly, there was a series of hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by anxious shouts.
As soon as this anxious shout fell, Shirobei shouted towards the door in frustration:
"We have a distinguished guest coming to visit us now! Don't make any noise! ​​We can talk about it later!"
"Lord Shirobei! Something big has happened! The people we sent to support Yangmei House have had a conflict with a group of hatamoto samurai!" The man who came to report the news was quite anxious. Although he was out of breath and was scolded by Shirobei, he still quickly conveyed this urgent message to Shirobei.
"What?" Shirobei's eyes widened.
Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana, who were sitting next to Shirobei, also changed their expressions - they had just heard the name "Yangmeiya" from Shirobei.
"Bayberry House..." Matsudaira Sadanobu muttered softly.
A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
I don’t know what he is thinking about.
…
…
After arriving at the scene of the commotion with Uesugi, Ogata also learned what had happened from other people.
—Did the wine spill on the hilt of the saber?
Ogata said this to himself as he couldn't help but frown even more.
The handle is the most delicate part of a samurai sword besides the blade.
The handle of a samurai sword is wrapped with a layer of something called "skin".
Made from the skin of a species of stingray.
The handle of a samurai sword is made by wrapping a layer of fish skin around the solid cut wood and then wrapping it with a flat woven silk or cotton tape, which is called the handle roll.
The bonding between the wood and the skin of the samurai sword handle is mainly done by rice and plant glue. The glue will come off if soaked in water for a long time, so the handle of the samurai sword must be waterproofed at ordinary times.
In order to protect the handle of the samurai sword, the "handle cover" was created, a cloth specially used to wrap the handle.
The main purpose of the handle cover is to prevent the handle of the samurai sword from coming into contact with water.
Because the life of the samurai sword's handle will be shortened if it comes into contact with water, many samurai are very averse to having their sword handles soiled with liquids.
The commotion caused by Takigawa not only attracted Ogata and others, but also attracted many passers-by who came to watch the fun.
After Ogata and others arrived at the scene, some of the leaders of Yangmei House also arrived.
The person who came here to take charge was Lai Jiu.
After learning the details of what happened, Lai Jiu wiped the cold sweat from his face and bowed to Takigawa and others in front of him to apologize:
"I am truly sorry! I will teach my men a lesson later! Please forgive me!"
"Get out of here!" Takigawa treated Lai Jiu's apology as just the buzz of a mosquito.
He used his left hand to push Lai Jiu in front of him, and raised the katana high again with his right hand.
Looking at the shining katana in Takigawa's hand, the geisha who made a mistake standing behind Raijiu let out a low whimper, then subconsciously took two steps back.
When Ogata saw Takigawa raise the knife again, his face darkened.
Then he walked quickly forward and stood between Raijiu and the geisha, facing Takigawa, who was now drunk and had a look of resentment and impatience on his face.
Looking at Ogata's face, Takigawa felt the resentment and anger in his heart grow stronger.
"Get out of here! You have none of your business here!" Takigawa roared at Ogata.
"Are you going to draw your sword and kill someone just because of such a small matter?" Ogata said in a deep voice.
As he spoke, he slowly raised his left hand and pressed the opening of the scabbard of Da Shitian.
"Is there anything wrong with me teaching a lesson to the bastard who defiled my knife?"
Uesugi and some other club officials and Bayberry House employees also stood beside Ogata at this time.
"It's just that the handle of the knife was stained by the wine!" Guasheng shouted, "Is it necessary to make such a fuss?"
While shouting like this, Uesugi raised his left hand like Ogata did and pressed down the wooden sword at his waist.
Takigawa saw Ogata silently raise his hand to cover the sheath of his sword.
"Ha!" Takigawa laughed in anger and showed an exaggerated sneer, "What? Majima Goro, you, a mere ronin, are you going to draw your sword against a hatamoto like me?"
"You better think about it carefully. Think about what will happen if you draw your sword against a hatamoto!"
The resentment and grievance that had been pent up in his heart for a long time, stimulated by alcohol, burst out with great force in one breath.
After mocking Ogata for a few words, Takigawa felt that his heart, which had been tormented by resentment and grievance, finally felt much more relieved.
At the same time, the sense of superiority also emerges from the bottom of my heart again.
——That’s right!
Takigawa shouted excitedly in his heart.
——I am a hatamoto samurai!
——So what if I didn’t make it into the top 10 in the written test?
——So what if this Majima Goro got first place in the literary test?
——I am still a hatamoto samurai, and this guy is still a ronin who finally found a job at the Shirobei Club a while ago!
——No matter what, my future achievements will definitely be far higher than this Majima Goro! And higher than that Miyashita!
Hearing Takigawa's blatant sarcasm, Ogata's face darkened slightly.
The melon student on the side shouted directly:
"What's wrong with the hatamoto? You guys are causing trouble here, and then we stop you, it's reasonable and logical!"
As soon as Uesugi finished speaking, Lai Jiu, who was standing between Takigawa and the others and Ogata and the others, wiped the cold sweat from his face, turned around and looked at Ogata and the others behind him, and then said in a low voice:
"Don't do that. Don't fight them with swords."
"That samurai's name is Takigawa Heiichiro, and he's a hatamoto samurai. You can't afford to offend them, so don't offend them further."
The samurai such as the hatamoto and gokenin who were directly commanded by the shogun, not only had various privileges, but also had a very scary thing, that is, they often had all kinds of powerful relatives.
The hatamoto and samurai were of noble birth, and the families they married into were not simple families either.
In the two hundred years since the opening of the Edo Shogunate, a close network of relationships and relatives had already been formed between the hatamoto and the gokenin.
A hatamoto whose family salary is not high might have a relative who is an important figure.
Lai Jiu, who worked in a place like Yangmei House, naturally knew the terrible aspects of the hatamoto warriors, so in order to avoid further escalation of the dispute, he hurriedly reminded Ogata and others not to offend the hatamoto.
Although Raiku lowered his voice when he reminded Ogata and others not to offend the hatamoto, Takigawa could still barely hear what Raiku was saying.
Listening to what Lai Jiu had just said to Ogata and the others, Takigawa felt his sense of superiority grow even more.
"Takigawa!" Uesaka, who was standing by, finally couldn't bear to watch any more and stepped forward to grab Takigawa's shoulders. "You've had too much to drink! Killing someone for such a small matter will cause a lot of trouble later! Lord Laijiu, I'm very sorry. I will slowly negotiate with you guys from now on..."
Before Uesaka could finish his words, Takigawa shook off the hand that was holding his shoulder.
"Uesaka! Get out of the way!"
"I must teach that geisha who defiled my sword a lesson!"
"And by the way, let's see if this Majima Goro has the guts to draw his sword against a hatamoto like me."
The pleasure of loudly mocking Ogata just now made Takigawa, whose mind was already overwhelmed by anger and alcohol, completely lose his mind and he could no longer listen to what Uesaka said.
Takigawa raised the knife in his hand and strode towards the geisha hidden behind Ogata and others.
Looking at Takigawa who raised the sword again, Ogata silently lowered his body center of gravity and placed his right hand on the hilt of Daishikatsu.
Ogata certainly wouldn't kill Takigawa with just one blow.
Ogata had already made a calculation - if Takigawa insisted on going forward to kill the geisha, he would use the back of his knife to help this guy "calm down".
Takigawa raised the sword in his hand high and strode towards the geisha.
Ogata also silently prepared to help Takigawa "calm down".
The heaviness of the atmosphere around us reached its peak.
But at this moment, a calm voice that was quite inconsistent with the heavy atmosphere suddenly rang out from the crowd of onlookers nearby:
"Put the knife back. It's really ugly to pull out the soul of a warrior for such a small matter."
These words were obviously directed to Takigawa. Although the tone was calm, there was an unquestionable severity in the calm tone.
This sudden sound of strange words not only attracted the attention of Ogata and his group, but also attracted the attention of Takigawa and others.
Even the attention of the onlookers was drawn away by it.
Because the voice came from behind the onlookers, they all turned around and looked back.
When everyone focused their eyes on the owner of the voice, the owner of the voice also put his hands behind his back and slowly walked towards Ogata, Takigawa and others.
The onlookers also consciously separated to the left and right, making way for the man to walk.
The man was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and had his head slightly lowered, making it impossible to see his face clearly.
Following closely behind him was an attendant who was also wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
"Who are you?" Takigawa frowned and questioned the man who had just asked him to put away his knife in a deep voice, "My business is none of yours. No matter who you are, please don't interfere!"
"Your business is none of my business... There's something wrong with what you said."
After saying this, the mysterious man slowly raised the brim of his hat.
As the brim of the hat was raised, the mysterious man's face finally appeared from under the brim.
After the mysterious man lifted the brim of his hat, revealing his face, Uesaka, who was standing next to Takigawa, immediately lost all color in his face, as if he had seen something extremely scary.
Then, as if by reflex, Uesaka knelt on the ground in the posture of a dogeza, saluted to the mysterious man, and stammered:
"Mr. Lao-Chu!"
Uesaka's loud shout instantly made the scene so deafening that one could hear a pin drop.
Takigawa and the rest of his friends present all had dazed expressions on their faces.
Ogata was also stunned.
He still knows what the term "old Chinese" means...
Uesaka's uncle is one of the four current young no Yoshinoyas - Yoshimoto Suzuemon.
Thanks to this relationship, Uesaka had met the elder council member Matsudaira Sadanobu several times.
So Kamisaka recognized the mysterious man at a glance.
The mysterious man, Matsudaira Sadanobu, continued with his hands behind his back, and continued speaking in a calm tone:
"Your business is really my business."
"You were actually planning to draw your sword against my guest just now. I can't just sit there and watch."
"Your...guest...?" Takigawa murmured with a still dazed look on his face.
An ominous premonition emerged in Takigawa's mind...
And what Matsudaira Sadanobu said next instantly confirmed Takigawa's ominous premonition:
"It's the Majima Goro-kun you just called him." Matsudaira Sadanobu said calmly, "If you fight with my guests, it will be very difficult for me to deal with it."